Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-01-07
POINTS FOR AMERICANS.

FOR AMERICANS.
WHAT 70 90 AND HOW TO 90
IT IN PARIS.
Something About the Best Places at
which to Make Purchases-stree Cars
In the French Capital-other Matters of
Interest.
Especial CoErespondence.l -
= PARIS; Dec. ell propose in this letter to
tell Americans who are coming to Paris for
the first time some little things that they
ought to know, and that they would be glad
to know, about the habits and customs of the
French capital.
/ stu remember my first morning in Paris.
more than twelve years ago, and es-
pecially do / recall my Intellectual attempt to
take a ride in one of the boulevard omni-
buses. / noticed one of these .chariots of the
democracyn stop, and j startedto get OH, but
1 was pushed back by the conductor-there
are conductors as wen as drivers ON the French
onaMibuses-while the empty places were
filed by others more favored than myself. 1t
was several. days before I caught on. i
use the expression literally and also in its
slang ncceptation. II found, that scattered
along the route,of a Paris horse car or omni-
bus line are stations" abou half a mile
apart II you wait for an omnibus or a car
at one of these stations you must ask the en-
ploye at the station for a number, a little
piece Of pasteboard with a figure printed on
it, and when the vehicle arrives the numbers
arc called out by the conductor, and you step
up in turn. This system explains why I
failed to get my ride OF that June morning
twelve years ago. / Yves not armed with one
1f these all important little passports.
II you wish to take an omnibus between
stations you must not be too near to the sta
ton that the oInnibussis approaching, other
wise you viii not be permitted, to get on.
The reason Of this is that, If you saw there
was q crowd at the station, and SO feared you
would not get a ss&t, your number beinga
high one, you would simply have to walk
towards the omnibus, stop 1t and get on,
while those you left behind at the station
would have to wait their turn. Between
stations numbers are of course not used, and
you then take an iiomnibusSin Paris just as
you do in american cities.
The, correspondence or transfer ticket is
another 4perplexing feature of the Paris on1-
nibus system to the foreign visitor. When
gyea eag sye.ln.. Afanas yaaA can ask for q enrre-
~spondence, which gives you the right to
change at a station and get on another line
that passes the station at which you get of.
Again, you must I've very careful when you
step on to your second omnibus to give up
your correspondence to the employee, other
wise you may be made to pay over again and
thus forfeit the benefit of your correspond
eIice. s sly: Ey%sgI f4.5 ai
The etiquette of Partisan cars and omni-
buses deserves a paragraph, although the
rules are not SO stringent as those established
by the company. A gentleman does not feel
acknowledgement up his seat to q lady asin the'
United States. You never see men in Paris
hiding their heads behind newspapers when a
lady is standing, as.you SO frequently do in
our American cities. But, at the same time,
it a rare thing for a gentleman to in,
vito a lady to take his place. Again, very
particular ladies and gentlemen will ride only
In the street cars and in the three horse omni-
buses; 40 man or woman who respects him-
self or herself-so society with a big s has or
dained-would be seen III one of the cramped
I'D and rather dirty two horse omnibuses!5 |
do DISLIKE to. get i'll them, not on account OF
!. what Mrs. Grundy may say, but because
they are so low that you are sure TO crush in
your hat, and more especially because the air
within is much like that OF the Black Hole Of
Calcutta - S8
But notwithstanding the many horse cars
and, omnibuses that run into all parts of the
city, tile visitor Is often forced to take more
costly iconveynnces ASH rule You hnve no
trouble i'll finding a cab. 1t is only on o
bright Sunday afternoon That it is sometimes
difficult to discover IN empty one or that
you are apt to stumble on a driver who will
have his own way. The Paris cab driver has
avery bad cliat aetels with the public. But'I
have found thatif you treat him politely and
invariably report them when they fail TO re-
turn the complimentary can get on pretty
we'll with the average larisian whip. The
pour boire, or gr1itiity die toa cabman, IS an
other source of perllexity 10 a foreigner.
How much onglitl To give? is q question the
~trarcler Is always asking himself and his
friends / should suggest the following rule,
which / have long followed, and which l
have fond. with rare exceptions, to be salts
factory TO Eabt,s. lf you take him by the
hour and are on The go an hour or an hour
and n half, give him a half franc. IL you
take him by lie course, and keep him say a
half or tlIrec-qIartrrs OF an hour, give him
five SOUS. Ifyour course Is a long one, you
nigI,t add another sou, and make it six. il
it is raiay or very cold weather, yon might be
still more generous and give him sven SOUS.
Blu; as n rule ten sous IS enough when you
20 nv the hour, and five when it is by the
course.
And now n word about rcstauranta.t In
Paris, rs in, the great American cities, there
are restaurants OF all grades and prices. but
here the quality of the ~rcfrcshnielts does not
differ so widely from the rrice as With you.
Go into almost any eating house in tue
Frei,sl, CAPT. IL and o can order a better
dinner than yol often get il restaurant of
repr, ) iii sonlc American Tho art, Of
coosr,g seems-to DO universally understood
in hfranre. In tho smallest villages of the
most istaI,t-propi8ees-l- caten meals
thst would render famous many of The down
own restaurants of New York. hut / do
NOT. intend here to go into a discussion OF the
comparative merits of tho French AMI Ameri-
capcsssines, nor TO dwell in detail on the pub.
lie refecturies-of Paris. Both subjects would
reauir. n separate letter. What / wish TO do
Is 10 give a hint or two to the American
visitor. who comes here with more curiosity
than money and who wishes to speid bis dol
lars on sight 1eeing rather than on expensive
board bills. To such a person 1 should
unhesitatingly say: Go to the Duyais. And
what fe the Dapals? lie will ask. l will tell
you.
Several years agoian entsrprising Partisan
catcrcr. named Daval whose head WIS ns Full
of 6lem us receipts, struck out on q now lfne:s
the most prominent feature OF which was in
forming the diner before he had ordered any